William Lewis
Carlos Hernandez | family = Unnamed father | status = Deceased | path = Serial/spree rapist Serial/spree killer Serial kidnapper Double cop killer | occupation = Fry cook | first = "Her Negotiation" | last = "Post-Mortem Blues" | playedby = Pablo Schreiber }} William Lewis (born Lewis Williams) was a serial rapist, serial killer, serial kidnapper, and sadist (later a spree rapist and spree killer). Background Lewis was apparently born in Harlan County, Kentucky, on August 23, 1978, as Lewis Williams. Lewis revealed that his father used to drive him to his babysitter's house and put him in front of the TV to watch cartoons, while he went into the back and had sex with the babysitter. Lewis recounted that one day, his father was passed out drunk while they were at the babysitter's house. Because of this, his babysitter began to perform fellatio on Lewis instead. His father regained consciousness in the middle of the act, and assaulted and brutally raped her. Afterwards, he took Lewis to Dairy Queen for ice cream; Lewis claimed it was one of the best days of his life. In 1998, he abducted and raped the mother of his girlfriend when she tried to break them up. Though Lewis was caught, the DA was unwilling to put the victim on the stand to testify, as she was a junkie, and the charges were dropped. In 2003, Lewis kidnapped two roommates in Alabama, and raped and tortured them for three straight days in a fishing cabin. They managed to escape and reported him to police, but Lewis avoided prosecution again because both victims were too traumatized to testify in open court, so his lawyer got him off. His name was misspelled on the paperwork as "Louis Williams", so the record failed to follow him. This gave Lewis the idea of using aliases that sounded similar, to confuse police records that would mistake it for simple spelling errors. In 2010, Williams appeared in Maryland, where his name was further misspelled as "William Lucas", and he went to trial for the rape and second-degree murder of his then-girlfriend, who was also his defense attorney from Alabama. His new lawyer, however, found another boyfriend of the victim and created reasonable doubt, causing Lewis to be acquitted. At some point, Lewis was sentenced to rehabilitation in an inpatient addiction facility in Long Island, ostensibly due to a drug addiction he suffered from while taking medication for back pain. Her Negotiation In February 2013, Lewis was transferred out of the facility and into a halfway house in Brooklyn. One day, Lewis starts taunting Jose, which causes Jose to almost scald his hands in the running water. When asked by Jose if he doesn't mind the heat, Lewis, in response, turns up the heat on the burners, places his fingertips on the cooking surface, and burns his fingers while he laughs. Lewis then tries to leave but Jose tells him that he has cleanup to do. In response, Lewis forces Jose's hand on the cooking surface, burning his hand. He then leaves for Central Park, where he flashes two female international tourists and is caught in the act by a 60-year-old woman named Alice Parker. Moments after, he is arrested by Detective Rollins, who was playing fetch with her dog nearby. Police efforts to identify him are complicated by his burnt fingertips and an absence of physical identification or anyone who could verify his identity. Despite this, Rollins calls in the rest of the SVU, operating on a hunch that Lewis is more than he says he is. During interrogation, Lewis gives various lies to SVU detectives about his personal life and background. He is later arraigned on public lewdness and given a plea bargain by ADA Barba, where he will only have two days of community service if he pleads guilty. Despite the offer, Lewis seduces his attorney, Vanessa Mayer, into declining Barba's offer and explains that he doesn't want to plead guilty to something he didn't do. He is then released from police custody, given that the charge of indecent exposure was only a Class B misdemeanor. Soon after, however, he tracked Alice down, and raped and tortured her at gunpoint for eighteen hours straight. The attack was briefly interrupted by an unknowing Captain Cragen, who informed Alice that she had to testify at Lewis' trial, but she managed to wave him away without incident. After the attack was discovered and Alice is taken to a hospital, Lewis was immediately suspected of it. He was tracked down to a bodega store and arrested by Rollins and Detective Fin. During interrogation, Lewis claims that he had left the halfway house out of dissatisfaction for it. However, he tauntingly tells Detective Benson how he tortured Alice, all the while refusing to eye Detective Amaro. He then tells Benson that it was all hypothetical right after Mayer arrives. The police attempt to do a lineup identification with Alice, but Lewis pretends to attempt suicide so he could avoid that. During the trial, where Lewis appears via teleconference, the judge approves Mayer's request for a psychiatric evaluation under the basis that he is not competent to stand trial and that he is pleading not guilty by reason of insanity. Later, after SVU uncovers his criminal record, Barba argues that Lewis is competent to stand trial because of his previous charges and intimate knowledge of the judicial system, while Mayer argues that Lewis was unlawfully harassed by the state. However, Lewis decides to proceed with the trial and is ruled competent by a judge. Later, Benson and Cragen find that Alice died of a heart attack due to the trauma of the rape and torture on her. With the loss of the prosecution's lead witness, Barba tries to offer a plea bargain with Lewis, where he pleads guilty to third-degree sexual assault and grand larceny and will be sentenced to four to seven years in prison. However, he and Mayer turn down the offer again and say that the SVU has a vendetta against Lewis. During the trial, Mayer works to discredit the evidence and SVU's testimonies. It was then found, by an independent investigator hired by Mayer, that the DNA evidence was mishandled when it was tested in improperly cleaned equipment. Lewis and Mayer seize upon that revelation as a good reason to deem it inadmissible in court. Mayer also points out that Alice was so traumatized that she might not accurately remember the face of her attacker, creating plausible deniability and leading to a mistrial being declared. In addition, Lewis was released on bail posted by Mayer. Immediately after, he breaks into Benson's apartment, holds her at gunpoint when she arrives home, and binds and gags her. Surrender Benson For the next several hours, Lewis tortures and humiliates Benson by forcing her to ingest sleeping pills, whiskey, and vodka while burning her with cigarettes and heated keys. After some time, Benson loses consciousness. Upon regaining consciousness, she tries to negotiate with him, telling him to leave the state now and she will not tell anyone about what happened in exchange. However, Lewis doesn't believe her and forces her to listen to a phone message left behind by her boyfriend Brian Cassidy, who says that he is stuck at his workplace in a Bronx courthouse and will not be coming home in a while. She attempts to resume negotiation, but Lewis claims that they are past that stage now. Benson then warns Lewis that she is an officer with the NYPD and that the SVU, along with the entire department, will be coming after him when they realize she is missing. She adds that he has put people through hell, but that "it will rain back down on you". However, he isn't daunted by the warning, says "Let it rain", and knocks her out by pistol-whipping her. Kidnapping Benson, Lewis returns to his halfway house, intimidates Silva into handing over his car keys, and takes his car. Two days later, he picks up Mayer and has dinner with her and her parents at the family house in Bellport, with Benson still bound and gagged in the trunk. Afterwards, Lewis drops off Mayer at the train station and returns to her parents' home, where he attacks her father Herb, binding and gagging him with duct tape, and leaves him to die of a heart attack. He then proceeds to rape and torture her mother Liz, with Benson being forced to watch. Lewis would escalate Liz's torture if Benson shut her eyes. Finally, after leaving Liz bound in her closet, Lewis steals her credit card and car and drives around the coast with Benson, looking for a suitable house to slowly rape and torture her. While en route, Lewis stops by a hardware store and, using the Mayers' stolen credit card, purchases rope, duct-tape, wire, and a handheld blowtorch, intending to use them when he tortured Benson. During the stop, he gives Benson more vodka and then some water, and warns her, "One move, lights out." Lewis proceeds to go back on the road, and as he drives, he taunts Benson by singing along to music. Shortly after, a police officer pulls him over for running a blinking red light. Lewis realizes the officer is a rookie and warns Benson that he will kill him if she makes a move. When the officer approaches him, Lewis attempts to negotiate his way out of the situation. However, the officer notices the alcohol and then Benson lying between the seats, prompting Lewis to kill him. Afterwards, he takes his gun, badge, and patrol car, using the latter to carjack a young woman and her infant child, leaving them both in the trunk of the patrol car. Finding a seemingly vacant house in Yaphank, Lewis settles in there, throws Benson on the bed, and chains her to it with her own handcuffs after helping her go to the bathroom. Ditching the stolen minivan in front of another house to throw off any suspicion, Lewis returns and taunts Benson, asking if there was anyone she wanted to see one last time. At first, she remains steely, but her resolve soon breaks and she begs that she will do anything to live. Lewis prepares to cut Benson's clothes off when a maid working at the house arrives with her young daughter. While initially eager to chase the maid away, Lewis changes his mind when he spots the daughter and instead chooses to rape, torture, and murder both as well. While he was preparing to do so, Benson taunts Lewis with how pathetic he was to prey on old women and children, and accuses him of not being "man enough to get it up" for a real woman. She then adds that she believes he was afraid of her. Intent on proving her wrong, Lewis unbuckles his pants, but at that moment, Benson breaks a bar off the iron post of the bed and strikes Lewis' face with it. Immediately, Lewis attempts to grab his gun from the adjacent night table, but Benson breaks his arm with the post and kicks him in the groin. Benson then grabs the gun and holds it to Lewis, warning him, "One move, lights out." However, he remains calm, saying that if she wants to be in control, he would let her, as he could play with that. She then pistol-whips him and knocks him out. Benson proceeds to free herself and cuff Lewis to the bed, then release the maid and her daughter. Returning to Lewis, who was still seemingly knocked out, Benson voices her disgust and hatred towards him, and her desire to torture and kill him, before admitting that he might enjoy that too. Revealing himself to still be conscious, Lewis attempts to goad Benson into killing him, then explains his childhood to her. This disgusts Benson, who believed he was trying to obtain some degree of sympathy from her. However, Lewis confesses that he enjoyed the incident where his father violently raped his babysitter, as it was when he learned the reason for why he was born. Even more horrified by this, Benson points the gun at his face, preparing to shoot him, but ultimately relents from killing him. However, Lewis comments, "I knew it. You don't have the balls." Benson snaps, takes the bed post again, and bludgeons Lewis repeatedly, seemingly to death. She then calls SVU and the police, who arrive and take Lewis away. Fin then reveals to a shocked Benson that Lewis had survived. Psycho/Therapist Lewis stood trial for Benson's attempted murder, kidnapping, rape, and assault. However, like before, he attempted to continue his legal winning streak as he feigned innocence and injury from permanent scars on the left side of his face, and claimed partial blindness in his eye and deafness in one ear, as well as limping in the courtroom--though this was likely him faking, as he showed a significant amount of energy when yelling at Benson. While he was able to force Benson to relive her memories and torment her throughout the trial, the jury acquitted him of the attempted murder and rape charges, but convicted him of the charges of kidnapping and assault of a police officer, and he was sentenced to imprisonment for 25 years to life. Before he left, Lewis gave Benson one final twisted look, believing he had the last laugh by forcing her through the hell in the trial. Once Lewis was taken away, Benson took time to herself in the stairwell and finally released all her emotions, crying in relief that it was over. Four months later, he faked a seizure in prison, likely for preferential treatment. It is implied he was in a relationship with his doctor after she held his hand while he was on the stretcher. Lewis gave a twisted smile as he was escorted to the hospital, implying a possible return. Beast's Obsession William Lewis later escaped from prison after having what appeared to be convulsions and a myocardial infarction. The cause of these afflictions was spiked pastries given to him by the jury forewoman in Lewis' original trial. The forewoman, who had delivered the jury's verdict of not guilty on the charges of murder and rape and guilty of kidnapping and assault of a police officer, had frequented Lewis' prison, believing Lewis to have been wrongly convicted. During one of the visits that she (the juror) made to Lewis, she prepared an assortment of pastries, which, unbeknownst to Lewis, contained anxiety relieving prescription drugs which she used herself to quell her angst during her onstage mandolin performances. Lewis was later discovered by his cellmate convulsing violently after falling from his bed. He was subsequently rushed to a nearby hospital where Janice Cole, one of the doctors employed there and his prison doctor, attempted to stabilize him. However, doctors later pronounced him dead when attempts to resuscitate him failed. Soon after, he spontaneously "auto-resuscitated" in what one of the doctors described as "The Lazarus Effect." It was at this time that, amidst the Monday morning mayhem, he managed to change into the attire of a hospital employee. Under the guise of a doctor, he absconded the hospital and began, or rather resumed, his manic killing spree. Also, before departing from the hospital, he also raped one of the nurses, and hung her unconscious body in a storage closet. He also murdered a cop by snapping his neck and stealing his gun. Once he evacuated the hospital, he continued his brutal mind games with now-Sergeant Olivia Benson by calling her, saying: "I missed you, sunshine" before hanging up. Benson and the SVU, along with other law enforcement personnel, gathered at the police headquarters to discuss a prudent and appropriate course of action. However, their meeting was interrupted by Lieutenant Murphy, who forced Benson to (likely temporarily) cede her leadership position, much to her outspoken chagrin, to him for the remainder of the investigation, due to conflict of interest and bias. Lieutenant Murphy believed that due to her previous encounter with Lewis (when he assaulted and attempted to rape her), it would be impossible for her to conduct an impartial investigation. Lieutenant Murphy designates agents Delano and Carlson to Benson as her security and protection personnel. Later on during the investigation, Lewis, having fugitive status, invaded the Cole household, residence of one of the doctors who tried to resuscitate him after he began seizing. While there, he murdered Janice Cole, the mother, by shooting her in the face, raped the eldest daughter Lauren and bound and gagged her in a closet, and abducted the youngest daughter Amelia. The detectives, an unfortunate step behind Lewis' heinous plots, arrived at the scene too late. They arrived and saw that the house had been ravaged, with torn upholstery and upturned furniture everywhere, and upon entering the kitchen, they saw Janice Cole's remains. During the team's further search of the house, they uncovered Janice's daughter, Lauren, in a closet, and rescued her. However, Lauren revealed to the detectives that he (Lewis) had entrusted her with a message meant solely for Benson, and that Lewis had abducted Amelia from the house. She requested to speak to Benson alone, for Lewis had otherwise vowed to murder Amelia Cole. At the hospital, Lauren was granted her wish of solitude with Benson when she confided, in Benson, the horrid details of her own rape. In addition, she also delivered the message from Lewis to Benson: "Tell the truth, or the girl dies." While this had perplexed Lauren, Benson understood what this meant. When Lieutenant Murphy asked her about the cryptic demand's meaning, she explained that she had perjured herself during his trial. In court, she had testified (under oath) that when she had bludgeoned William Lewis with a steel rod, it had been necessary to restrain him, as he had managed to get free from his handcuffs, and that such battery was necessary for self-defense. However, the bludgeoning had actually occurred while William had still been handcuffed and defenseless, and had therefore not been necessary to subdue him. Lieutenant Murphy adamantly instructed Benson not to make the confession, under the impression that "it will feed the beast" and that he might still kill or molest Amelia. Soon after, at police headquarters, William Lewis called them on the landline, and insisted that he speak to Benson. On the phone, he again demanded that she make the confession soon or else he would kill Amelia, but he now also added that his previous defense attorney would also be murdered if his demands were not met. Benson ruefully agreed to make the confession on public television under the condition that Amelia and the attorney remain alive. He agreed, but then violently shoved the attorney down a flight of stairs and beat him. His fate was not clarified, but it is likely he survived due to the superficiality of his injuries. Meanwhile, the remainder of the SVU and law enforcement had successfully triangulated the location from where the call had been made. They deduce the location to be Roosevelt island, which had only one exit route, and the detectives believed that by blocking the exits, they can corner him with no route of escape. However, the evil Lewis again proved to have outfoxed them when they evacuated a tram and found that the phone was there, but William Lewis had made off with Amelia, and left her backpack behind. This prompted Benson to make a televised confession where she described her perjury. She declared that she had assaulted William Lewis out of rage, rather than necessity, and stated that her admission had been made without "coercion" and "by her own volition," despite the fact that neither of those statements was true. Benson was later seen at Magna's Bar drinking and wracked with angst about her admission, and accompanied by her two-person security convoy, Delano and Carlson. She confirmed that she felt remorseful, and was dubious about William Lewis' vow to release Amelia as he had said; she woefully expressed this while Delano and Carlson made small talk. Benson requested to go to the bathroom, and Delano escorted her to make sure the bathroom was "safe." Upon deeming it so, she gave Benson her requested privacy, but Benson used that as an opportunity to contact Lewis, who said that she could come rescue the girl. Her security personnel, distracted and taken with the bar's vigor, were unwitting of Benson as she fled the bar unnoticed. Outside, she used her authority as a cop to "borrow" a civilian's car, much to his dismay. She then drove off to Lewis' presumed location. She arrived in what appeared to be a dusky junkyard, and demanded that Lewis confront her. Lewis did so, surprising her from behind at a distance. He quickly drew the gun he had stolen and approached Benson, disarming her, removing her cell phone, and unstrapping her police vest. At gunpoint, she was forced into the car as Lewis drove the two of them off to Amelia's location. Back at the station, Lt. Murphy was livid when he discovered that Delano's and Carlson's laxity at the bar had afforded Benson an opportunity to escape, and dismissed the two of them after a caustic spiel. He then asked Nick Amaro, Benson's partner, about what Benson was most likely doing. Amaro responded by saying she had gone to confront Lewis. When the scene again switched, it was to show Lewis directing Benson aggressively towards a deserted and decrepit factory, which was also the site he was using to hold Amelia hostage. As they traveled to the top, Lewis taunted her cruelly as they approached the uppermost floor. Lewis forced her to choose between letting herself be raped or having Amelia, who was bound by her wrists, be raped. Nobly, Benson volunteered, and Lewis began to fondle and caress her, causing her great repulsion. When Benson repeatedly and understandingly refused to submit to his sexual desires, he forced her to partake in a savage game of "Russian Roulette" with her. He loaded a six-chambered revolver, pressed the muzzle to his head, and fired, only to reveal a blank. He slid the gun to Olivia, forcing her to fire the gun at her head (five chambers remained), with the threat that he would shoot her if she did not do it. Reluctantly, with an 80% chance of survival, she held the gun and fired it, fortunately revealing another blank. Lewis, becoming excited, pressed the gun to his own head, now with a 75% chance of survival as four chambers remained, and fired, firing yet another blank. Right before Benson took her turn, however, Lewis heard helicopters and realized that the police had located him, Amelia, and Benson. Remaining composed, he taunted the detectives, who were floors below them, through the walkie-talkie he had stolen, informed the SVU of their "game," and told them that he and Benson were half-way finished, with three chambers left. Benson uneasily took the revolver once more (with a 66.6666% chance of not being killed) and fired, as another blank was used. Lewis then informed the authorities that two chambers remained and remarked, "You know how lucky I am." Without hesitation, and with a 50% chance of killing himself, he essentially tossed a coin by again squeezing the trigger. Seeing that it was a blank, Benson appeared devastated. Both having realized that the only chamber remaining was the loaded one, Lewis told Benson, "Game over." Suddenly, after intimidating and psychologically tormenting her with the prospect of her death, he raised the gun to his head and fired, Benson watched, shocked. The story closed by showing Benson splattered with Lewis' blood, his last act having been one of evil and of his having imparted one final terror upon her. Known Victims *Unknown dates: **1998, Lexington, Kentucky: May Stu **2003, Montgomery, Alabama: Two unnamed female roommates **2010, Cecil County, Maryland: Unnamed Alabama lawyer *2013, New York: **May 12, New York City: ***Jose Silva ***Astrid and Tilde **May 13, New York City: Alice Parker **May 20, New York City: Detective Olivia Benson **May 22-23, Bellport: The Mayers: ***Herb Mayer ***Liz Mayer **May 24: ***Unknown locations: ****Officer Jimmy Hamilton ****Unnamed woman ****The woman's unnamed baby ***Yaphank: Viva Nunez and her daughter Luisa *2014, New York City, New York: **March 31: ***Officer Foster ***Unnamed nurse ***The Cole family: ****Janice Cole ****Lauren Cole ****Amelia Cole **April 1: ***Unnamed store clerk ***Danny Weston ***Martha Marron ***Unnamed clerk **April 2: Sergeant Olivia Benson Appearances *''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (2 seasons, 7 episodes): **Season 14: "Her Negotiation" **Season 15: "Surrender Benson" • "American Tragedy" • "Psycho/Therapist" • "Wednesday's Child" • "Beast's Obsession" • "Post-Mortem Blues" Category:Serial Rapists Category:SVU Characters Category:Males Category:Psychopaths Category:Serial Killers Category:SVU Recurring Characters Category:Criminal Masterminds Category:Deceased Category:Cop Killers Category:Suicide Category:Sociopaths Category:Serial Kidnappers Category:Spree Rapists Category:Spree Killers Category:Statutory Rapists Category:Characters Based on Real People